The IEEE Standards Association has given its seal of approval to the next generation WiMAX standard, dubbed 802.16m. The new standard supports a “wide range of data rates in multiple user environments” and has a theoretical maximum throughput of around 300Mbps. “We are delighted that IEEE has recognized the completion of this comprehensive technical effort that has involved hundreds of creative and diligent professionals from over twenty countries during the last four years,” said Dr. Roger Marks, Chairman of the 802.16 Working Group. “Our organization was able to efficiently harmonize these innovative technologies into a clear set of specifications guiding the future development of the mobile broadband marketplace.” The standards group notes that 802.16m will provide the speed and performance necessary to “support future advanced services and applications for next generation broadband mobile communications.” The full press release is after the break. More →

WiMAX Uno hasn’t been fully deployed in the U.S., and wouldn’t you know it, WiMAX Dos is on the way. Samsung and UQ Communications recently demoed WiMAX 2 — 802.16m — at the CEATEC exhibition in Japan. The two companies showcased dozens of HD and 3D videos simultaneously streaming to four large-format displays. The WiMAX 2 standard should be finalized sometime next month; speeds of up to 330 Mbps have been achieved using the beta version of WiMAX 2. More →

Computerworld is reporting that the second iteration of the WiMax 4G technology — known as WiMax 2 or 802.16m — is ready to be finalized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) this November. After approval, the WiMax 2 Forum hopes to see WiMax 2 handsets in the marketplace by the end of 2012. Mohammad Shakouri, the VP of the WiMax Forum, has said that the goal is “to deliver average downlink speeds of more than 100Mbps to users.” The newer, faster WiMax will not saturate areas any better than its predecessor, although it will offer backwards compatibility to the first generation WiMax (802.16e). At it’s current rate, Internet traffic is predicted to double every year from now until 2013. Experts estimate that the world will consume roughly 1.3 million terabytes of data per month… in video alone. Bearing that in mind, it’s good to see the bandwidth threshold of these 4G technologies continue to rise! More →

Some good news for ardent supports of WiMAX today, as big names like Intel, Motorola and Samsung gathered to announce their support for and the expansion of the protocol with the formation of the WiMAX 2 Collaboration Initiative (WCI). Based on the IEEE 802.16m standard, WiMAX 2 is fully backwards compatible with its predecessor and is capable of delivering theoretical speeds of up to 300Mbps all the while offering better support for VoIP services and lower latency. It’s a bit strange that Clearwire and Sprint are not members of the WCI, but then again it was only a few weeks at when Sprint CEO Dan Hesse admitted he is keeping an open mind about moving the Now Network over to WiMAX’s 4G rival LTE.

IEEE is expected to approve the 802.16m mobile WiMAX standard, also known as WiMAX 2, this summer. Under laboratory conditions, WiMAX 2 can deliver a blazing 120Mbit/s down and 60Mbit/s up when using 4×2 MIMO antennas on a 20MHz-wide channel. In practical terms, WiMAX 2 will approximately double the speed of the current WiMAX technology. In an interview with Unstrung, Clearwire’s CTO John Saw said that Clearwire is going to review the new 802.16m standard but will not immediately adopt it. The wireless broadband company could begin testing WiMAX 2 sometime in 2011, with commercial deployment possible in 2012. Depending on the 4G market in 2010, though, customers may never see 802.16m hit their WiMAX connection as Clearwire has been very open about its ability to drop WiMAX and switch to LTE if the market favors LTE. Does it really matter whether Clearwire switches to WiMAX 2 or LTE as long as the connection is stable, the speeds are fast and the devices are numerous?